Cortana now works with IFTTT

Do you use Cortana for your smart home? Well, Microsoft has announced that its digital assistant now natively supports smart home devices from Ecobee, Honeywell Lyric, Honeywell Total Connect Comfort, LIFX, TP-Link Kasa, and Geeni. This is in addition to the Samsung SmartThings, Nest, Philips Hue, Wink, and Insteon support the Windows 10 maker announced last October.

Microsoft:

To set up your connected home with Cortana, open Cortana on Windows 10 or go to the Cortana app on your phone, click Notebook, then click Connected Home. From there, you can connect your favorite smart home accounts and control your devices from anywhere you use Cortana.

Better yet, Cortana now supports IFTTT, too, the free web-based platform that helps you connect your apps and services. In short, you can now activate your IFTTT applets (automations) with voice. This will come in especially handy in the area of home automation. For example, you can simply say “Hey Cortana, movie time” and IFTTT will proceed to dim your Hue lights, turn on your Harmony TV, and set the right room temperature.

If you ask me, adding IFTTT support is certainly a good move, as this means Cortana users now have a place to discover what works with the digital assistant, instead of waiting for new features from third-party companies (which may never come).